Phantom Phases
by The Duelist's Heiress
Summary: While looking at the moon, Christine and Erik both see another side of The Phantom of the Opera.
1. A New Moon, A New Voice

**Phantom Phases**

D.H. A. N.: This is my first POTO Fic. Please enjoy and leave a nice review. Suggestions welcome, if not needed.

Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera

Chapter One: A New Moon.

Parisian moonlight fell softly upon Christine Daae, glittering on the engagement ring she had received from Raoul de Changy, as if, along with almost everyone she knew, the moon wanted to gaze upon the pristine ring as well. But she had another ring as well. Its giver had bid her keep it. She remembered the first time she had heard the voice of the ring's giver. It was like a new moon, a voice without a face. Something that she knew was there, but could not see; a voice that held power, reason, and love.

Erik crept through the halls of the ruined Opera House, unfortunately finding that in his final desperate attempt to win his love's heart, he had ruined his favorite catwalks. He would just have to find another stroll. Something caught his eye, a faint trickle of moonlight, something he, The Phantom of the Opera, had never seen before. _What does she think of me now? I think myself a horrid person, one who could never be loved, but Christine… she taught me something._

**DH: **Well, how was it… good bad, please let me know. Thanks for reading


	2. A Waxing Moon, A Waxing Desire

D.H. A.N.: I'm back with a longer chapter this time, and with some great news. My high school band is going to State Competition this Tuesday, so be patient, I only have one more after school rehearsal left; which is good and bad at the same time. Anyway, enough about the author's personal life, that's not why you're here. Let's get back to Erik and Christine's reflections, shall we?

**Chapter Two: Waxing Moon, Waxing Desire**

Erik just stood in the shadows the moonlight cast upon his hiding place, remembering that the moon wasn't always full. Sometimes the light would fade, slipping back into solitary cover of the Earth's shadow, where it would wait until the next opportunity revealed itself. Erik thought about the many times he had done the exact same process. There was, of course, the beginning, in which he had heard Christine Daae first sing with that naturally beautiful voice that could only become honed to perfection from there. Then, there was the night, when The Phantom of the Opera began to act as the moon, rotating around the soprano who was his world.

_Flashback_

There were a few candles lit in the room of the Opera Populaire where Christine Daae was staying as a chorus girl. But she was now Prima Donna for the Opera's production of _Hannibal,_ after La Carlotta had a slight mishap with a backdrop. Erik had heard Christine sing many an occasion, and scoffed at the absurd idea that the owners, Andre and Firmin, thought that the haughty, over egotistical La Carlotta had what it took to be the Prima Donna. _They only picked her because there was no one better. She is far too shrill when in the high registers. I hope that backdrop on the head teaches her a lesson or two. But my Angel Christine shall be more successful than La Carlotta will ever be. O, what do we have here, an old friend of Christine? She seems to be interested in him, but he seems to be pressing her a little too hard for my liking. _The stranger then kissed Christine's hand. That made Erik furious. _That's it! As soon as he is gone, I make my entrance._

_End of Flashback_

Little did Erik know that Christine had stumbled upon the same memory, the memory of how the Angel of Music came in the night.

_Flashback_

Raoul deChagny, a childhood friend who had become the Opera's new patron, had stopped in to comment on how well the young soprano had sung. He was gone now. Christine noticed some roses tied with black ribbon, and smiled, somehow knowing they weren't from Raoul. Then, a fierce gust of wind blew the few remaining candles out. She heard a voice, deep, comforting, yet commanding, boom, "Insolent boy , the slave of fashion, basking in your glory. Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!"

Christine was relieved, the angel her father promised her had come at last. She responded with "Angel I hear you speak I listen stay by my side guide me. Angel, my soul was weak, forgive me. Enter at last, Master." The voice then seemed to caress her ears with pleasure. "Flattering child you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide. Look at your face in the mirror I am there inside!" She looked and indeed there was someone on the other side of the mirror, a handsome man in black with a white half mask. She moved towards the mirror and didn't even know she had stepped through it, into the halls of the Phantom's lair.

_End of Flashback_

Erik took the time to chastise himself. _Smooth move, Erik, take her to your lair. That's what got me into trouble. I should have done it in increments, rather than all at once. But alas what's done is done. _He saw movement, and someone sitting just outside where he was hiding. _Could it be? _It was Christine Daae, sitting all alone on a bench within eyesight. Erik knew it would be foolish to try and establish contact, the mob was still looking for him. He waited, shifting into the moonlight, hoping that only her eyes would see him.

**D.H.: **Once again, I apologize for the short first Chapter. I hope this one is a little better. Thanks to **Fallingwithstyle, GlimmerOfHope, Ron's Girly1100(You know who you are), **and **LovetheScottishAngel,** for reviewing, and until after State competition is done, bye .


	3. Two Musical Nights

**D.H. A.N.: ** This is a combination of two events in the movie, and a less than adequate description of a third. I hope You all like it.

**Chapter Three: Two Musical Nights**

_**Christine's Flashback continued**_

The mysterious figure then took her by the hand, and guided her onto a gondola, silently rowing onward. She remembered little except that it was as if she were in a trance. The gates opened rather slowly, revealing a delicately styled abode on the underground lake.

Christine remembered nothing after that except that a calm voice, lulling her into a slumber:

" Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation.  
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination.  
Silently the senses abandon their defenses

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor.  
Grasp it, sense it tremulous and tender.  
Turn your face away from the garish light of day,  
Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light -  
and listen to the music of the night...

Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams!  
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before!  
Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar!  
And you'll live as you've never lived before

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you  
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you  
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind,  
in this darkness that you know you cannot fight  
the darkness of the music of the night.

Let your mind start a journey  
through a strange, new world!  
Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before!  
Let your soul take you where you long to be!  
Only then can you belong to me

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication!  
Touch me, trust me, and savor each sensation!  
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in  
to the power of the music that I write  
the power of the music of the night

You alone can make my song take flight  
And help me make the music of the night"

Her Angel held the last note and gave it a bell tone quality, letting it slip into silence. It was a lovely piece that must have livened up its composer immensely. For his voice held such passion, such openness, such boldness that could only be done if one truly saw the beauty of the night's wrapping embrace. She knew that this was her angel. Someone that could know no other identity. She slipped into sleep without another thought.

_Several months later…same flashback._

It was months before the fist performance of **Don Juan**, the Phantom's latest Opera. Christine Daae found herself alone on the roof with Raoul deChangy. He started singing to her with a soft, gentle voice:

"No more talk of darkness, forget your well found fears.

I'm here nothing will harm you; my words will warm and calm you.

Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears, I'm here, with you, beside you to guard you and to guide you."

She found herself knowing that his words were sincere, and that they came from somewhere deeper. But that alone couldn't assuage the feeling that there may have been someone else there. Was there another on the roof? She shook that notion away.

There was another on that roof, who thought that he was intangible, one who was incapable of any emotions save love, passion, and fury. Beyond that, he was no one, a man who held many aliases but no one who honestly knew his name. The Phantom of the Opera, the Opera Ghost, an Angel of Music, a mysterious composer whose works were performed on the Populaire stage nightly, and to his specifications exactly. He knew that no one would notice him on the roof, behind the statue of the winged horse. He heard Christine, his Angel, serenading Raoul, the arrogant young suitor who had obviously stolen the young soprano's heart without regard for whether anyone else held admiration as he did. Erik felt tears slowly make their way down his mask, and the other half of his face. He had given her his music and made her song take wing. How could she betray him? She had denied him, something that he could never allow himself to forgive.

The two left the roof, locked in a vocal embrace., leaving Erik alone, fingering one of his many roses, with a black ribbon around the stem. Snow began falling softly through the passionate fury that was coursing through his system, a fury that he had never learned to control, something that he felt would certainly lead to his death.

A noise quickly jolted both Christine and Erik back to the present. It was a notable echo that was caused by a cough that had hopefully come from Erik. He shivered slightly, as it was getting colder. He shook himself, trying to wake himself up, and jolting himself out of his morose state. There is a phase that he had gone through many an unfortunate time, along with many other unnoticeable phases that he knew he had gone through, but this kind of depression that would never cease to present itself._ I really was involved in this memory, and yet am surprised that the distractions present themselves so easily. But that phase was just the beginning._

_**Flashback**_

It was the night of the Don Juan premiere at the Opera Populaire. Erik had already made certain that he would be singing onstage during the Point of No Return. What he didn't count on was that Christine would remove his mask, and thus humiliate him in front of a full house. Of course the first portion of effectively assuming this would have been that Christine had realized that Erik had been on the roof that winter night. He had assumed the opposite, that she knew not that he had been on the roof. But the process of humiliation began at the end of the duet.

"Say you'll share with me  
One love one lifetime  
Lead me save me  
from my solitude  
say you need me with you here

beside you  
Anywhere you go

let me go too

Christine that's all I ask of-"

Then it happened. All that seemed to fill his ears were the loud horrified gasps, something that he seemed to remember as his life had followed the same pattern. He tried to shut them out, closing his eyes hiding tears of fury that seemed as if nothing could stop them. Although, if he had held his eyes open for a few more seconds, he would have seen a look of remorse from the young soprano's eyes.

Christine shook out of self hatred, she just had to prove her assumptions right. In doing so she had caused an undesired panic. She had first gotten an idea that the Phantom was Don Juan, but she had realized something that only after the Don had begun singing something that sounded very familiar to her, although it wasn't until the semi-known actor asked to go anywhere that she went that she realized that actor and Phantom were one in the same.

**D.H. A.N.: **I read the book, and it didn't help me with this story much, but it has given me minor ideas for my other story, **Phantom Duelists. **It's in the** Yu-Gi-Oh **genre, but that's another area I enjoy reading. I want to thank **LovetheScottishAngel **and **Phantom's Daughter 13 **for the opinions on whether Christine recognized Erik in _**Don Juan Triumphant,**_referring to Erik's adlibbing to "AIAOY." And all of you who review, thank you.


	4. Wandering Child Found

**D.H. A.N.: **I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I've had writer's block on this for months, which I have just gotten out of. I'd like to think this is the best chapter yet. I'll let my readers decide. Enjoy **Chapter Four: Wandering Child Found. **Please review. All singing is to the tune of "Angel of Music", the base tune for "Wandering Child". Enjoy.

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**Chapter Four: Wandering Child Found**

Erik sobbed silently; the memory of that night had caused so much pain never had left him. He sang loudly, then softly in between his broken sobs. "I'm not more than a wandering child, one that has gone astray. A wandering child so lost, so helpless yearning for true guidance. A wandering child so lost so lonely, left to recall the past." He held his last note with all sorrow intertwined into it. He had learned to live in his loneliness, but that did not mean he truly accepted it. He then heard a seemingly heart torn soprano voice answer him back. He looked up only to see liquid brown eyes filled with tears.

While on the bench, Christine let tears have their way with her face, for she did not care anymore. His sorrow torn voice echoed in her memory. 

"_I'm not more than a wandering child, one that has gone astray. A wandering child so lost, so helpless yearning for true guidance. A wandering child so lost so lonely, left to recall the past."_

"Whose is the voice that I hear now, so sorrowful and forlorn? How can I not answer the call to a heart that's torn?" She walked toward the place where she heard the voice, asking a question through song. "Is it a lonesome feared phantom who has now captured my ears? Fate has told me that I have caused pain beyond all tears."

She held her hand out to him, and, with the roles somewhat switched, Erik took Christine's hand, speechless for a minute. But when she opened her mouth he knew the exact words to sing with her "Angels of Music to each other, going our separate ways. Angel of Music, don't forget me, go now and find your place." Christine pulled the ring from her pocket, and placed it gently in his open hand, closing it in the same manner as he had when he placed it in hers.

"Are you happy with him?" The Phantom asked, part of him still hoping she would say no. But he knew that she wouldn't deny the vicomte, who had come to save her. Now would be his chance to perhaps send an apology to him by way of Christine. But she did not answer his question, instead asking another.

"Why did you let me go with him? I am happy with him, but I will only be truly happy when I know the reason for it, other than the fact that we were childhood sweethearts." She murmured lightly. 

"You were childhood sweethearts, mademoiselle? I had no idea, although, I think I should have guessed that." Erik somewhat laughed lightly, and he liked the feeling it gave him. It was a new feeling, laughing, but his serious nature came back to him, realizing that she had asked a question. "I'm sorry, would you mind running your question by me again?"

"Why did you let me go with him?" She softly asked again.

"You showed me love, a feeling I never knew. An indescribable change came over me. That feeling cannot be worded, voiced, or even put into music. I know that you would have stayed had I not let you go. But that would have only lead to two lives being mourned , and a celebrated death of a third." He sighed, removing an envelope from his back pocket, closed with a safety pin instead of the usual red wax seal. "Give this to Raoul for me." He said the name of his former combatant softly, as if the name was foreign to his tongue.

"I will" She paused, "But what about you?"

"I will, as you sang, find my place, as it is clear you have found yours, by making my music world renowned someday." He cracked a devious smile, "Perhaps write new works, and who knows; somebody could find my manuscripts and make a story of it. "

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**DH:** Well, somebody obviously found them, and now, The Phantom's phamous. On another note, I'm undecided about whether this should end it or if there should be another Chapter or two. For that reason, I'm not putting "Complete" on it yet; even if it sounds like it should be, so let me know what else you would like to see if anything. If this does turn into the last Chapter, I thank you for your support. If it continues, I'll keep thanking you until the end.


	5. Notes

Chapter Five: Notes

**DH AN:** Here is the last chapter of **Phantom Phases. **I hope you like it. I am supportive of Raoul & Christine, and go back and read a portion of the fourth chapter if you have any doubt on my stance. Enjoy **Chapter Five: Notes.**

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Chapter Five: Notes

**Paris, France 1919**

Raoul De Changy solemnly stepped towards the grave of the dearly missed Countess De Changy, otherwise known as Christine Daae. He placed the music box at the base of the tombstone, sighing softly.

A glint caught his eye. It stood out against the black ribbon tied to the rose; _his _trademark. He glanced over to the spot where they had fought, then back at the rose and stepped away. He pulled the Phantom's last note from his inside pocket.

Erik waited with his bow in hand.

_**Flashback**_

They heard hooves clicking on the street. "Christine?" Raoul's voice came out clearly over the din.

"He's waiting for you, mademoiselle." Erik softly urged.

"But, where will you go?" Christine asked.

"You don't need to worry about that, but I will return."

"You promise?" Christine asked. Erik only nodded in reply.

"Give him that letter." Erik urged somewhat forcefully.

Christine turned to see behind only for a few seconds, but by the time she returned her gaze to its former position, the elusive Phantom had vanished.

"Christine!" Raoul shouted once more, coming up behind her. His tone then became softer. "Are you looking for something?"

"Yes. A ring, why?" Christine immediately felt bad for fibbing when Raoul paled slightly. "Don't worry, Raoul I found it." She removed the note from its concealment. "I have a note for you from… a friend." She handed him the note.

Raoul opened it, noting the safety pin.

**To the Vicomte De Changy:**

**You probably, no doubt, recall ****the four times I tried to prematurely end your life; even if one was unintentional, I set the trap, so the fault is still mine. Firstly, after having time to reflect on the events, I would like to somewhat congratulate you on your engagement to Miss Daae. I wish you the best of luck, and there is only one final demand, if you will, that I have of you before I depart my ghostly alias.**

**I request that you be good to Christine, and indeed be her shelter, and lead her past her fears. **

**One last thing, keep working on your swordsmanship; you only won because the blade slipped out of my glove, at least that is what I think.**

**I remain your former rival,**

**O.G.**

_**Present-**_**1919**

Raoul sighed softly, standing still.

Through the silence, he thought he heard the enchanted violin playing the tune to his vow to his love in song. But, he knew somehow that it was no illusion and that it was another of The Phantom's Phases.

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**DH: **I hope you liked this story. I will write more in this area, but it may be a while. I thank all of you who have read this. It really makes me happy.


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